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Schwarzenegger Says Terminator 6 Is 'Whole New Movie'

Terminator 6 will be keeping things simple, according to star Arnold Schwarzenegger. While the first two Terminator movies are considered classics of the genre, many fans and critics would agree the quality dipped following James Cameron’s departure from the series. Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines was a competent action movie with a great twist ending, but it lacked the flair and creativity of the previous movies.

Schwarzenegger had to sit out Terminator: Salvation due to his political career; but while Christian Bale came onboard as John Connor, the movie left many cold, and failed to kickstart a planned trilogy. The most recent entry – Terminator: Genisys – met with near-universal scorn for its weak story and uninspired action. The announcement that Terminator 6 will see the reunion of Arnold, James Cameron and Linda Hamilton has gotten people excited again, and the film promises to ignore anything beyond Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

In an interview with Business Insider, Schwarzenegger was keen to reinforce that this will be a new start for the series. The star acknowledged the storytelling failings of the previous adventure, stating "It’s hard to come up with new ideas when you stay within that framework," and that the next entry will keep things relatively simple:

“I think [James] Cameron and Tim [Miller] came up with a concept where they can continue on with the T-800 but make a whole new movie. What they are doing now with this one is basically to just take a few very basic characters, like Linda Hamilton’s character and my character, and dismiss everything else. Just move away from all these rules of the timeline and other characters.”

Director Tim Miller also confirmed the new movie will embrace Schwarzenegger’s age, and the actor spoke a little about what makes the character so interesting to play after all these years:

"I think the T-800 model is a really interesting character. He’s a machine, can be destructive, can do things human beings can’t do, but at the same time when newer technology comes along the character is suddenly vulnerable and that makes him even more interesting."

It’s no surprise the next Terminator will be paring things down, as the various sequels have now spawned multiple timelines. Terminator: Genisys came in for sharp critique of its confused logic and timeline – a complaint even director Alan Taylor had to acknowledge. The crew behind the next movie is doing a lot to inspire confidence in the fanbase so far, from bringing back Sarah Connor to retconning the much-maligned sequels out of existence.

While Cameron’s return is definitely an exciting development, time will tell if it was the right move or not. A common complaint of the various Cameron-less sequels is that Terminator 2 wrapped up the story perfectly, and no more stories needed to be told. That said, the franchise's creator seems genuinely excited about the concept he and Tim Miller have cooked up for Terminator 6, and has gone so far as to call it the real sequel to Terminator 2.